The Giants, of course, are struggling. And will be looking for revenge against Brendan Leipsic, not incidentally. You will get the usual "I'm worried about this game" from people, but the truth is if Portland doesn't win games like this, they deserve to get caught from behind by the Chiefs.
MAGIC NUMBERS FOR EVERYONE IN THE WEST

No guarantees for accuracy. And remember that if two teams tie for the #8 playoff spot there is a one-game playoff.

Portland Winterhawks: over Spokane, 8 (unlikely but still possible for Spokane to catch them in wins and be tied in points).Spokane Chiefs: over Portland, 10.Kelowna Rockets: over Tri-City, 10 (and Kelowna has more wins).Tri-City Americans: over Kelowna, 6.Vancouver Giants: over Chilliwack, 7; over Everett, 2. (PG can't catch them, Everett can. Everett can't catch them or Chilliwack in wins, though, so their magic number is 2 instead of 3.)Chilliwack: Bruins over Vancouver, 9; over Everett, 2.Prince George Cougars: over Everett, 8; over Kamloops, 2; over Seattle, 4.Everett Silvertips: over Vancouver, 15; over Chilliwack, 13; over Prince George, 6; over Kamloops, 3; over Seattle, 5.Kamloops Blazers: over Prince George, 8; over Everett, 12; over Seattle, 7.Seattle Thunderbirds: over Prince George, 10; over Everett, 13; over Kamloops, 7.

[take off 2 points every time you win or your opponent loses, take off 1 point if you or your opponent loses in overtime/shootout]

Each team except Kamloops and Prince George (who play each other twice this weekend) play tonight, so things will sort out a little more.
HOW MUCH DOES FIRST IN THE WEST MATTER?

Hypothetical: on the 20th, Portland and Spokane are tied in points, and tied after 60 minutes, going into overtime. How much does Portland winning in overtime or the shootout help their chances of winning the WHL or the Memorial Cup?

I'd argue not much.

You get home ice advantage against Spokane in a hypothetical third-round matchup. This probably matters a little bit. As we saw in last year's playoffs, it isn't something huge.

You get the #8 seed in the playoffs as opposed to the #6 seed. Chilliwack is the hot team right now, maybe it means you avoid them. But Vancouver is the coldest team in the league right now, and it might mean you miss them, as well. And whoever comes in #8 will be playing pretty decently to win the spot. Plus #8 might end up being Prince George, and nobody really wants to play them because of the travel. Which low-ranked team you want to play isn't something the Winterhawks should have to have a major worry about if they're legitimate contenders anyway.

You get the #4 seed in a possible second-round matchup as opposed to a #3 seed. A big deal a few weeks ago, less so now. Based on current form, Kelowna can't be seen as much more of a pushover than Tri-City would be. Even if they could be, we're not even sure at this point which of them finishes ahead of the other. Actually, the most valuable thing about being #1 might be that you play a lower seed if one of them pulls off a first-round upset. Helped the Americans a lot last season. My bottom line, though: it means a little, not much.
KURTIS MUCHA, DUSTIN BUTLER, AND CANADIAN COLLEGE HOCKEY

Kurtis Mucha is getting the fortune in Canadian college hockey that he never got in juniors. Starting in goal for the University of Alberta as a freshman, he won four straight playoff games (2 best-of-3 sweeps for Alberta) as the Golden Bears won the Canada West conference championship. [Article describes him as a former Kamloops Blazer. Yeesh.] And he played well, too with a .980 save percentage, a 0.50 goals-against average, and two shutouts. They talked about Mucha with his coach last Saturday on The Pipeline Show (about halfway through the clip), and the bottom line is he still has some pro prospects. This makes me very happy.

The goalie for Calgary in that series was Dustin Butler, who was Mucha's teammate in 2005-06 (and a few games before and after) with the Winterhawks. He didn't have a great series--he was taken out of the first game, and came in in mop-up relief in the second game--but he was named the best goalie in Canada West for the whole season.

Because of the format, one conference in Canada gets two berths in their national championship. This year it's Canada West, so both Alberta and Calgary get to go. So both goalies from the 2005-06 Winterhawks will be playing for the national championship, March 24-27 in New Brunswick. Calgary also has Teegan Moore, who was a Winterhawk for a couple of months in 2007.